Number of crimes down, revenue up in District Court

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2013 at 8:42 AMJan 15, 2013 at 8:42 AM

By Matt Durr

matt.durr@hillsdale.netHILLSDALE —The Hillsdale County District Court saw the total number of cases drop by 2 percent last year according to the annual report that was released last week.The court saw 7,195 cases last year, down from 7,338 in 2011.The biggest difference was in the amount of traffic cases seen by the court, where 201 fewer cases were seen. That continues a trend that has seen traffic cases steadily decline over the last decade. In 2002, 9,005 traffic cases came through the court, as opposed to the 3,672 in 2012.Those 9,005 traffic cases in 2002 were 25 percent more than the total amount of cases seen in 2012.Although the total cases dropped, revenue was up 6 percent, totaling $907,556. A new state law may be the reason for the increase, as a $125 fine is now required on some minor misdemeanor violations.There was also an increase in the amount of felonies as 482 cases were heard. That represents an 8.55 percent increase from 2011, but is not as high as the 2009 number of 562. Civil cases also increased by 8.7 percent.The report showed statistics for the last five years along with data from 10, 20 and 30 years ago.